September 2017 – Page 6

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For most of my life, I have stayed in Penilee, a small housing scheme on the southern western edge of Glasgow, Scotland. After growing up here, I have learned a lot about the small scheme and its changes throughout the years. The houses in Penilee are mostly houses that are provided by the council. These […]

The houses in Penilee are mostly houses that are provided by the council. These flats and tenements where built to accommodate workers who worked at Hillington Industrial state which Is a five-minute walk. The industrial estate includes many areas of work and opportunity’s such as factories, offices and retail shops. Penilee is now under major construction development. The council have begun by building modern new shops which include a chip shop, a Chinese and Indian takeaway, a butcher and a grocery shop. They have also begun to demolish old flats, and build modern up to date houses that can fit a family of 4 with a fancy drive way and a front and back garden. As these new homes are beginning to take shape, the green space in the area is starting to decline.

Penilee provides plenty of transport for the people who live in the community with a train station connecting to Greenock and Glasgow city centre. There are also bus links that take you to shopping centres such as Braehead and Silverburn, the city centre.

Surrounding Penilee there are 3 primary schools and 1 secondary school which is a short 5-minute walk in Crookston. Penilee used to have its own secondary school named Penilee Secondary school, however it was demolished along with Crookston Secondary School and Rosshall Academy was formed combing two schools together. This has created more green space in the heart of Penilee where the local park now is. Penilee also has a local community centre which caters lots of different sports and activities for the local community. There are also many free classes for the community especially the elderly where the can join a class to socialise with others and learn a new skill such as playing an instrument. The local gym is also within the community centre. According to the Scottish Air quality (2017) the air in my area is stated to be low.

The Curriculum for Excellence(2017) provides many opportunities for outdoor learning. During the sustainable development seminar, we had the opportunity to go for a sensory walk. This would be a perfect lesson for primary school children to learn about their urban environment as it would be engaging that the children would get to leave the classroom and explore the community they are living in. When I took part in this lesson around the university I was shocked at things I didn’t know of the environment I was in every day. I had the chance to explore and gain new skills and knowledge through the activity.

A perfect lesson for primary school children to use their seses to explore the enviroment around them. What can you hear, smell, and touch? What can you see?

References

Education Scotland (2017). Experiences and Outcomes. [Online]. Available : https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes#soc. [ Accessed : 25 September 2017]

Air Quality in Scotland. (2017) Latest Pollution Map. [Online] Available: http://www.scottishairquality.co.uk/latest/?postcode=G21+3HY&postcode-submit.x=0&postcode-submit.y=0 [Accessed: 25 September 2017].

Sustainable Development – Directed study task 1

I live on the outskirts of East Kilbride in a hamlet called Jackton. I have lived in East Kilbride all my life however I have moved three times. Me and my family moved to Jackton nine years ago when new estates were built on farm land. East Kilbride once called Kilbride used to be a … Continue reading “Sustainable Development – Directed study task 1”

Child Development in the Arts- Week 2

“Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hand, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds and colours”- Loris Malaguzzi. For me, this quote highlights the importance of giving children the opportunity to harness their knowledge and skills as well as developing new skills and abilities in the … Continue reading “Child Development in the Arts- Week 2”

This was our second week in the integrated arts module. The focus this week was on how a child’s artistic abilities develop in the arts, as they grow older and continue throughout school. Prior to the class, we were required to read two readings: Fleming (2012) and McAuliffe (2007). These readings were very insightful, useful and knowledgeable in helping our understanding of how a child’s cognitive development can grow and develop in the arts. It also highlighted ways in which we as educators should be aware of the importance of art and how we should interact with individual children.

Fleming’s “The Arts in Education” was insightful into the value of art and why it should be justified in the curriculum. It suggests that the arts can have a positive impact on the development of children. We looked further into the chapter “An introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy”in our lecture. We were each given a page of the chapter we had already read and were asked to annotate it with visual drawings of the meaning behind the text. I was given page 8, the part of the text that i focused on was when a child asked why they were doing this task, and immediately the teacher sent him out of the room. I decided the best way to capture this point was by drawing doodles of the situation. I thought this was an excellent way of understanding deeper meanings throughout the text, it is an effective tool in developing contextual understanding, evaluation and analytic skills in children. As well as that it also allows the learners to develop skills that they might not be able to express with the written word. It is also an efficient way of connecting literacy with art, it allows for a more fun, interesting and effective lesson.

Throughout the lecture, we also looked at Elliot Eisner’s ’10 Lessons the Arts Teach’ looks at the importance of the arts and how it is a crucial lesson for allowing children to experience and evolve with the vast areas of the arts. Lesson 5 was one that stood out to us as a class as it basically suggests that we know more than we can say and the arts show that no words or numbers can stop on what we can know and that “the limits of our language do not define the limits of out cognition” (10 lessons the Arts Teach). I found that this resource will be crucial for me, as an educator, to ensure that i allow the children the best opportunity to experience the positive impact that the arts can have on their wellbeing.

In the workshop, we got the chance to analyse different pieces of art created by children at different stages of development. The article we read by McAuliffe connected very well with this part of the workshop, it allowed me to understand a child’s development in the arts a lot better as i had already researched it. Lowenfeld and Bittain (1987) suggested that artistic abilities grow and develop in 4 stages: scribble, pre-schematic, schematic and the gang stage. It was designed to help teachers engage and understand more about a child’s work. However, McAuliffe suggests that with time changing and advances in psychology and other factors that it is not as simple to just “slot” children into stages. It is important to remember that all children develop and grow differently and its not as easy to have each child in a stage as every child is unique.

Furthermore, as an educator we need to realise that with a young child’s drawing, it might just look like a series of random lines or marks to us but to them it could be their whole world, it could be a fire engine going down a road at 60 mph. Therefore, it is crucial that we always listen to what the child says about their drawing and show that we value their creation.

This picture was created by an early level child, where his pencil managed to stay in contact throughout the whole picture. This stage of development in art means his fine and gross motor skills are developing at a pace that is suitable to him.

As children grow older, they become more focused and pay more attention to detail and features. They begin to modify and refine shapes, focus on the placement and size of the objects. However, some children do have a fear of not being accurate with their work (McAuliffe, 2007). As educators, we should ensure that we give the children the appropriate resources and a wide range of media to develop the ability to make these marks.

The child has decided to draw two parrots, they have paid attention to detail and experimented with a range of bright colours.

Moreover, understanding that the arts is a subject that an be incorporated into various areas of the curriculum will make for a more meaningful and fun learning experience for the children. It is important that as teachers we don’t forget about the value and importance of art, even though in the majority of schools literacy and numeracy often take priority. However, if we incorporate both subjects into the one lesson then no subject is more important than the other. Activities such as reading a passage and taking key words or points but doodling an image can express and help a child understand the passage in a whole other light. Children are able to express a theme related to literature through a drawing and can express their understanding of literature through art.

This picture is a clear representation of interlinking literacy and art. These children have displayed a range of words but have drawn visual representations of how the words sound.

Overall, from today’s lecture and workshop i have gained more knowledge on ways to support the development of children through the arts. It is crucial that we allow the children the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and abilities in the arts. I want to continue to participate and learn more about this topic as i believe it is an important area that needs to be taught more throughout schools.

References:

National Arts Education Association. (n.d.) 10 Lessons the Arts Teach [Online] Available: https://www.arteducators.org/advocacy/articles/116-10-lessons-the-arts-teach [Accessed: 21st September 2017]

Fleming, M. (2012) The Arts in Education: an introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London: Routledge.

McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 [Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe] London: Continuum.

Early Learning HQ. (n.d.) Loris Malaguzzi [Online] Available: https://www.earlylearninghq.org.uk/latest-resources/inspirational-quotation-loris-malaguzzi/ [Accessed: 2oth September 2017]

Sustainable Development- Learning Log

This was our second week in the sustainable development module. We had a lecture outlining what this module involved and a short assessment briefing. We also discussed our natural and urban areas and how these areas can have an impact on our physical environment. It was a very informative and interesting lecture as it allowed me to learn the difference between both urban and natural areas as well as how the environment fits into the curriculum for excellence. It highlighted the learning outcomes for social sciences that we as educators will be using when we are out on placement, which was crucial information for us to consider and think of different activities we could do that would fit with these outcomes.

We also had two seminars to take part in. The first seminar involved us taking part in various activities outdoors. In a small group I participated in a sensory walk. It shocked me how our senses could see, smell and hear so many different things in our environment when you focus on it. There is a lot of green space around the university and through this walk we discovered areas that we had never seen before. We noticed various plants and wildlife on our walk which intertwined with the other activities we were to complete. Through doing this seminar, it gave me ideas on activities i could do with the children and how the outdoors is a very valuable and fun resource you could use with the children.

The second seminar of the day involved numerous work stations with tasks for us to complete. The one that stood out to me was when we had to go outdoors and take rubbings from tree bark and some leaves. This was not only a fun activity for us ourselves to take part in but it would be a very effective activity to try with the children on placement. It was interesting to see the various types of leaves and how you can see the differences even more so when you rub over it with a crayon. Another one of the activities we got to do was dissecting a flower and seeing the various parts that make up a flower. This was an interesting and more advanced activity, i feel like an activity like this would work better with the upper end of the school. Finally, we got to hold and feel snails. When i first saw the snails i was a bit apprehensive to actually holding one but once i did it was very fun and interesting to see how they move about and how they consume food. I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop as it wasn’t just an enjoyable experience but it also gave us ideas on how to apply this knowledge to the classroom.

We also had a directed study task to complete, the task was to create a blog post on our own urban environment (which can be read from my previous post). We were encouraged to look deeper into our environment and focus on essential areas that make up our environment. It was exciting and surprising to see how parts of my urban area can have an impact on the physical environment. Additionally, we also looked at ways we could develop a lesson on the environment with a Primary 5 class.

Through participating in the lecture and workshops i feel like i managed to develop a range of skills such as : observing, evaluating, analysing, listening and researching.

The environment, in my opinion, relates hugely to primary teaching. Prior to learning and researching more about the environment i never really had a huge opinion on it and the importance of teaching it to the younger generation. However, now i can see how crucial it is to develop the younger generation’s knowledge of how the areas in where they live can have both positive and negative effects on the physical environment. The Curriculum for Excellence highlights the importance of this through the Social Sciences learning and outcomes. Topics like the environment is an area that can also be interlinked with other areas of the curriculum such as literacy and mathematics, to make their learning more interesting, diverse and fun.

Like i mentioned above, beginning to to take part in this module has changed my thinking on areas such as the environment. Prior to this input, i never really had much opinion on the environment, i was never very interested in what happened in my area and the impacts that it can have on the environment. I always knew it was an area of the curriculum that i had to teach but i never had a particular interest or enjoyment for researching and looking more into it for me to teach to the children. However, now that i have taken part in the workshops, in particular, has changed my opinion in a very positive way. I am now very interested in how the area that i stay in can have a positive and negative impact on the environment. I also feel a lot more confident in teaching a topic like this in a school from the various activity ideas we were given throughout the workshops. I now realise the importance of teaching social sciences to the younger generation and how getting the children involved will make for a more positive and enjoyable learning experience. After all, children are the future.

Sustainable Development: Environment Learning Log

Last week’s input and this weeks directed study task had a focus on the Environment, both natural and urban. It’s crucial to note that while we covered both aspects, the inter-related nature of the two was also impressed on us … Continue reading →

Integrated Arts – Week 1&2

“Art is the literacy of the heart” – Elliot Eisner Weeks one and two of the Integrated Arts module focused on the drawing and music areas of the arts. In music, we focused on the emotional aspect of music: how different pieces of music can affect a person’s mood and feelings, but also how a …

Continue reading “Integrated Arts – Week 1&2”

The Environment

If, as teachers, we are to educate pupils about the environment we be aware of our environment and that of our pupils to maximise understanding. Last week’s workshops consisted […]

If, as teachers, we are to educate pupils about the environment we be aware of our environment and that of our pupils to maximise understanding.

Last week’s workshops consisted of a variety of activities. The activity I took the most out of was the sensory walk, it allowed me to explore areas of the campus I didn’t know existed and showed me the vast amount of green, open space in the University’s grounds. The sensory walk would be a great activity to conduct with pupils as no equipment is required. It can also be done at different points throughout the year and pupils could explain the differences they see in their environment as the seasons change. After the walk, many cross-curricular activities can begin, for example, writing a descriptive piece mentioning their senses.

During the directed study task, I learned that there is a much higher level of deprivation than I had imagined. I was aware that my town had obvious areas of deprivation but had no idea it was as bad as the statistics have shown. Last week’s classes taught also me that we need to care about the environment closest to us to care about the global environment, taking small steps make a big difference. For example, walking to the shops rather than taking the car.

Urban Environment

My urban environment is a small town called Saltcoats, located in North Ayrshire. The population of Saltcoats is approximately 12,000 with many of the houses being new builds because of […]

My urban environment is a small town called Saltcoats, located in North Ayrshire. The population of Saltcoats is approximately 12,000 with many of the houses being new builds because of the development of farmland. These new builds along with the older housing estates largely take the form of cul-de-sacs comprising of detached and semi-detached houses. The town centre is currently undergoing a regeneration project to attract more people to the area but at the moment – in the centre of the town – lies banks, pubs, bakeries and small shops. It also hosts a cinema, police station and gym. Public transport in Saltcoats takes the form of a train station and buses. Although the bus routes run through the town they were created before the expansion of the town so, for me, the nearest bus stop is a 10-minute walk from my house.

Saltcoats boasts a great deal of green space which takes the form of playing grounds and fields. The air quality as of the 21^st of September was ranked at 2, which is very low on the spectrum. There are five primary schools in Saltcoats, three of which are less than a five-minute walk from my house. There are also two secondary schools – one nondenominational and one catholic.

North Ayrshire has 51 data zones in the most deprived 0-15% in Scotland (North Ayrshire Council, 2016). My specific area is ranked as a 3 on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, meaning it is in the middle between the most deprived (1) and least deprived (5). It is clear from these statistics that my area suffers from high levels of deprivation which is why it is currently undergoing a regeneration project – as mentioned previously. The regeneration process focuses on three areas: town centre, waterfront and business quarter (Irvine Bay,2017).

Part of Saltcoats town regeneration project.

If I were to investigate urban environment with a Primary 5 class I would begin by considering the history of their urban environment (SOC 2-01a). This would help them have a deeper understanding of the area in which they live and allow them to compare what it was like in previous years compared to how they know it. I would also discuss pollution emitted by transport (SOC 2-09a) to encourage positive health and wellbeing through walk or cycling to school. This would link in well if the school were participating in a walk to school week.

Reference List

Air Quality in Scotland (2017). Latest Pollution Map. [Online]. Accessible: www.scottishairquality.co.uk [Accessed: 21 September 2017].

Irvine Bay Projects (2017). Countess Street, Saltcoats. [Online]. Accessible: http://www.irvinebay.co.uk/projects/countess-street-saltcoats/ [Accessed 21 September].

North Ayrshire Council (2016). Key Facts and Figures. [Online]. Accessible: https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/council/council-information/key-facts-and-figures.aspx [Accessed 21 September].

Scottish Government (2017). Curriculum for Excellence: Social Studies. [Online]. Accessible: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/social-studies-eo.pdf [Accessed:21 September 2017].